Teach Soap

So, I'm hoping someone can give me a little help with what may have happened to my first HP soap. I don't have a crockpot or a big stockpot, so I found instructions (w/ pictures) for making hp right on the stove. Everything went really well, it separated nicely and the champagne bubbles started up. My son woke up screaming (he's having a painful growth spurt) and my husband wasn't waking up (he is a soldier so sleeps through most anything lol). I took the pot off the heat and went to wake my hubby. The pot was off the heat about 30 seconds (this was nearly 10 min after it started boiling). Once back on the heat it went pretty quickly to the vaseline stage and no matter what I did it wouldn't melt. It completely missed (as far as I know) the exothermic stage. I did the zap test and seemed fine ( earlier a stray bubble must have popped out and hit me on my lip, so I now know what lye feels like ... yikes!)

After a while, I just glopped it into the mold. I know it cooked too long, it's crumbly, but other than that, it seems fine. I used it and my husband has. My 3yo grabbed it before I could get to it and used it too. Feels really silky and TONS of lather.

Any thoughts? I'm hoping to get a crockpot today, but any ideas what happened?

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Amy in Soapland

The vaseline stage is what you want. Hot process soap will never be pourable. Sounds like you overcooked it, so you might have some dry pieces in there. Sounds like your soap will be fine. Next time try it in the oven, instead of on top of the stove.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Soapbuddy, thanks for taking the crazy amount of time to load these pages and respond!! So, it's okay that it didn't go through that stage where it stirs itself? So, this should be good to rebatch? There isn't any color or fragrance in this, so they're nice with lather, but not pretty or smelly!

How do you do it in the oven? Would it be similar to using a crockpot??

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Amy in Soapland

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Amy in Soapland

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I'll be honest ... I don't get soap balls ... what on earth do you do with them?!

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Amy in Soapland

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

_________________
Amy in Soapland

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Soapbuddy, I hope you see this!!!

I tried it again, still in a pot because I can't buy a crock pot until Friday. This time it never separated! It went to a thin trace quickly and then thickened up. I stopped using the stick blender (I only used it for a few seconds, then stirred for 30 s to a minute) and went to my spoon. Pretty soon it was at the vaseline stage. I did the zap test and it just tasted icky LOL So, I figured I'd keep going and used just a bit of the Cherry Almond BB FO and also added about an ounce of shea butter with color. Glopped it into the mold and sat down to wait for this to load!

Any thoughts? Hopefully I'll get a crockpot on Friday and not mess with this again. I may try one more batch tonight (if I can find the lid to my pot) and just stick it in the oven after trace (right?).

Thank you so much!!

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Amy in Soapland

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

ive read through the everything soapmaking book hot process section, and im still a bit confused about making HP with a crockpot.

is it safe to assume that HP is a bit slower than CP to make? i mean from the point everything is measured and ready to go until pouring into mold?

had emerg appendectomy on saturday mornin and hubster wont let me soap for 2 weeks or until doc says i can lift heavy stuff .... but i figure if i make hot process all i really need help with is pouring... RIGHT?!?!

anyways!
with HP, do i do everything the same to make it, (like measure out all my oils, make my lye-water, get scents or colours ready if i wanted to use any) and then pour all my oils and lye-water into the crockpot?

do i want to put oils and lye-water into a cold crockpot and then once ive mixed them do i turn it on or.... i was going to do a search but figured this thread was already made so maybe i could just ask

thanks in advance!

Soapbuddy, you were right and it came out perfect! I did go and make another batch and stuck it in the oven. THAT one was so much easier, so I'll stick with that! Here's a picture of the first one I did last night. I used BB Cherry Almond and some activated charcoal. It's so pretty!

For some reason, the image is coming out huge, so here's the link




Raksava, I hope you feel better soon! I haven't made crockpot HP yet, but from what I get is that you warm your oils in the crockpot, add your lye water and blend to trace. Then, you put the crockpot on low and cover it. Check every 15-20 min to make sure it doesn't overflow, if it's getting high stir it down. Once it reaches the vaseline stage you can do the zap test (touch a tiny amount to your tongue and if it zaps you then let it cook for another 10 min, if it doesn't then it's saponified). Once it's done, you want to let it cool to under your oil flashpoint before adding fragrance. If you're adding just one color, I believe you can add it at trace. If you're doing more than one color than you can add it at the vaseline stage by taking what you want colored out.

I hope that helps! Oh, and yes, hot process takes longer to make than cold process because you are forcing it to saponify quickly. So, you can use it as soon as it cools. Now, I've read that a lot of people still let it cure for a couple weeks. I'm not sure why, maybe to make sure all of the water has evaporated?

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Amy in Soapland

Good job Amy!
For crockpot soap, you make it as if CP, then put the traced soap in your crockpot and cook til vaseline stage. I use the low setting for my crockpot, so the soap doesn't overflow. I stir off and on til the soap is done. Color can be added to your oils, or to your lye water; depending which color you choose. Some are water soluble, others work better mixed with oils.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.